Like Brother, Like Sister
by DarkElements10
Summary: Barry and Averey learn more about each other as they traverse life as siblings. *RedEye (Barry/Averey)* *Companion one-shots to "In a Flash"*
1. Like Brother, Like Sister

**Like Brother, Like Sister**

 **Summary- Barry learns a little bit more about Averey. [Set after Chapter 26 of "In a Flash"]  
**

* * *

Barry Allen set down his Monopoly piece on the board as he heard a loud knock on the West front door shortly before the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," he said, getting to his feet. He pointed a warning finger over at Joe West. "I'll be counting your money when I get back."

"Who me?" Joe asked, widening his eyes.

"Don't think just because you're the Banker that you can slip some extra money into your hand," Barry said to his foster father.

"Yeah, _dad_ ," Iris West added, giving her father a pointed look as she paused to organize her property cards. "We're not kids anymore, we won't fall for it."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Shouldn't someone go get the door?" Eddie Thawne asked as he put an arm around Iris's shoulders.

They were all crowded in the living room of the West household, circled around the center table where a Monopoly board, tokens, and colorful wads of money sat. Joe was perched in his chair at the head of the table. Barry sat cross-legged on the floor with his back to the TV, facing Iris and Eddie who were sitting on the floor with their backs resting against the couch.

Barry quickly turned away from the scene and headed for the door. It was still a little hard to see Iris and Eddie being so serious with each other. So much time had passed between the two of them while he was in his coma, but Barry still felt like a little bit of time had passed. He now fully understood what it really felt like to blink and miss something.

It wasn't that he didn't like Eddie. In fact, Barry could consider him a friend. He would just as soon not see another man kissing, and caressing, and other boyfriend-like thing to the woman he was also in love with. Sooner or later, he'd have to grow to accept that Iris found someone that made her happy. Despite that, he could find a few things he had in common with the detective.

He and Eddie shared a passion for their work as evident in their detailed work ethic. Protecting people as best as they could was their top priority whether that was on the crime scene or, in Barry's case, as he zipped through town trying to stop a crime before it started. They both had a certain wit to themselves; and had the uncanny ability to be socially awkward at times in which they ran at the mouth, furthering that awkwardness. While it wasn't something he didn't feel like he had a lot of time for now, they both had an interest in sports and Barry often found himself talking with the detective in the morning about sports highlights, players, and their favorite teams.

And, most importantly, they both cared for Iris.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Barry shouted towards the door as the knocking on the door repeated. Grasping the door handle, he swung the door open, taking a step back as the woman on the porch nearly fell inside as she readied herself for another knock. "Oh."

Another thing he found weird? That he had a sister; a half-sister to be more exact and one that he didn't know about for 25 years of his life. Here she was, not only in Central City, but standing on the West doorstep.

"Hi," Averey Moore greeted, giving Barry a fleeting smile.

"Hi," Barry repeated. "How are you feeling?"

They really were blood related now as far as he was concerned. Not only did he share the same father, but after a hard battle against Hartley Rathaway, who could shoot sound waves out of enhanced glove devices, Barry had donated his blood to her. While he could heal himself quickly, her body couldn't take the frequencies and amplitude of the sound waves and needed emergency care.

It was Caitlin Snow of STAR Labs that had thought of Barry donating his blood for her. She had known from Averey's first appearance at STAR Labs, due to multiple tests on her blood, that they shared part of their familial line. It was only recently that Barry found out that they shared the same father.

"Better," Averey replied with a short series of nods. "Thanks." She lifted her hand and Barry noticed that she was holding onto a six-pack carrier. "I brought this. It's hard root beer; your favorite."

"How'd you know I liked root beer?" Barry asked, giving her a curious look. He took the cardboard carrier and twisted it around to read over the label. "I didn't even know they made this."

"I took a course in Cisco University and looked at your Facebook page," Averey said with a proud smile. "Root beer's my favorite, too." Tilting her head to the side, she scratched at her ear. "You put a lot about your life on there." Barry let out a short chuckle.

Like a lot of people, when he first joined the social media site, he carefully crafted his "About Me" section with quotes, favorite movies, books, authors, and quotes. Overtime, that had been stripped down significantly. After all, employers were now keeping track of what employees put online.

"You know alcohol doesn't do anything to me," Barry explained.

"It's not like you can't taste it," Averey replied with a shrug.

"True." Barry pulled the door open wide, stepping to the side to give her space to step into the house. "Come in. Thanks for coming."

"Thanks for inviting me." Barry noticed Averey's eyes shifting around the room, never locking on one single thing as she stepped further into the West home, returning everyone's greeting as she stepped into the living room.

"This is so weird," Eddie said, looking back and forth between Averey and Barry.

"Would you stop staring?" Averey asked.

"Sorry," Eddie apologized. "I just…I still can't believe it, that's all. In my defense, I've barely ever seen the two of in the same room together." His eyes narrowed into a squint before he started indicating areas on his face. "I can see it now; the same jaw, the same smile lines, your eyes crinkle in the corners."

"You can blame dad for that," Barry said as he closed and locked the front door. "Seems like we have more in common than being fans of Lady Gaga." He took a bottle of the hard soda himself before setting the carrier down onto the table. "Someone loves Root Beer as much as I do."

Joe made a face, shaking his head. "It's too sweet for me," he said as Iris and Eddie reached for a bottle. "If you want to rot your teeth, be my guest." He lifted the dark bottle that was perched on the arm rest of his chair. "I'm not paying for your dental insurance anymore."

"You've been saying that since Halloween of '98," Iris pointed out to him. Joe shrugged. Turning towards Eddie she explained, "That was the year where it seemed like everyone in the neighborhood only bought Butterfingers."

"I was picking that stuff out of my teeth for weeks," Barry said. He found himself running his tongue along his teeth as if he could feel the candy stuck there. "But, it was worth it."

"That was me and Baby Ruths," Averey explained as she lowered herself to a seated position on the floor. "Root Beer and Cherry soda, too. You can find some at Asian supermarkets back home that have 'em, but you can also special order them." She removed her shoes and set them behind her. "Baby Ruths were hard to find for a while when I was growing up but now there are special aisles for American lollies in our supermarkets.

"You didn't have Root Beer at all?" Eddie asked, eyes widening. Averey shook her head. "How did you survive?"

"Contrary to popular belief, Australia isn't out to get you," Averey said with a small laugh. She gathered her brown hair in her hands and pulled over one shoulder.

"Shoot, I could barely go a day without my breakfast soda as a kid," Eddie commented. "And Cherry Soda is pretty much the best."

"Uh, yeah, it is!" Averey agreed, lifting her hand for a high five. Eddie obliged and slapped his palm against hers.

Barry on the other hand did a double take, lowering his drink from his lips as he stared at the police detective. Joe and Iris were staring at him, too. Eddie jumped when he noticed everyone was staring at him. "What? I was a chunky kid, ok?"

Barry quickly took a long swig of the beverage as Iris let out an "Awww" before leaning over to kiss Eddie on the cheek. Joe made a show of loudly clearing his throat and Eddie blushed.

The taste of alcohol burned Barry's tongue and throat as he swallowed, but knew that it wasn't going to do anything to him. Even if he took every single one and knocked them back in seconds-it was so good, he wanted to do just that—his metabolism would have the alcohol worked out of his body faster than he could imagine. After tough days fighting metahumans, there were times he wished he could just go out and get smashed, but understood that this was his new lifestyle. Nevertheless, he made a mental note to ask Caitlin about the special grade of alcohol she was making for him.

"I knew you'd like it." Barry set down his bottle and looked over at Averey who was smiling at him, watching for his reaction.

"It's really good," Barry said, using the back of his arm to wipe the moisture from his lips. He matched her smile with one of his own.

"You're not going to have any?" she asked, turning towards Eddie and Iris.

"I would, but we're going to dinner and a movie soon," Eddie said with a half smile, bumping Iris's shoulder with his own. "We have reservations at the Italian place for six."

"And we're nowhere near done with this game," Iris said, nodding towards the Monopoly table.

"I didn't mean to interrupt game night or anything," Averey said, looking over the board.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Iris replied, waving her hand in the air. She then gave Barry a pointed look. "Besides, _we're_ not the ones who take forever on our turns. Barry is a slow player."

Barry held back a smile. If it was any of the STAR Labs team (or as Cisco Ramon had dubbed them "Team Flash") he'd zoom through his turn every time. He couldn't go a day without being told he was slow or late for something, but nowadays he _had_ to keep up that appearance.

"There's a strategy to which properties you want to buy and when," Barry insisted, jabbing his forefinger onto the wooden table. "You're just mad because you have the brown places."

"At least you have the railroads and utilities," Averey pointed out, reaching across the table to indicate Iris's pieces.

"That's basically the only thing keeping us afloat right now," Eddie said with a frown. Barry laughed in triumph as he slapped Joe a high five.

"Do you play the 'Free Parking rule?" Averey asked. Her eyes widened and she seemed to shrink in on herself as everyone gave a collective "No" in reply. "Why not?"

"Because it's unfair," Joe replied.

"No, it's not," Averey insisted with an amused smile. "It makes the game go faster, you take everybody's money, build your Monopoly, and boom you drive everyone into poverty like you're supposed to."

"Remind me never to play against you," Eddie said, pointing a finger in her direction. "I think I'd rather have my token _stay_ in jail."

"Ha, funny that," Averey said with a smirk. "You know most people would try to avoid jail in the first place." She laced her fingers together and gave him a sweet smile and Eddie let out a fake "Ha, ha, ha."

Matching her sardonic smile and rolling his eyes Eddie muttered, "How many times do I have to say 'Sorry'?"

Both Barry and Averey had grown up very differently. While Barry was spending most of his childhood and early adult life trying to convince people that his incarcerated father, Henry Allen, was innocent of being accused of murdering his mother, Nora Allen, and studying to become a crime scene investigator in the United States, Averey had been born and raised in Australia and had gone to University, travelled, and had gotten arrested. In fact, she had gotten arrested in Keystone City for petty theft by Eddie.

It turns out that Averey had in fact not stolen the pairs of shoes she had been accused of, nor was she partaking in gang related activity as Eddie had thought. From what Barry understood, Eddie had acknowledged his mistake and helped her through court appearances, meeting with lawyers, and everything.

Despite their different upbringings, Barry found himself getting along with her pretty easily. They both knew, in a sense, what it was like to lose and live without a parent. He could talk to her about his feelings of frustration and loneliness of not having his parents around and she would listen and try to understand his situation. She was empathetic, fun loving, funny (she had the ability to say what was on her mind often without thinking), and stubborn.

She was also determined; she was determined to honor their dad's wishes and not tell Barry they were related, and determined to help STAR Labs with their study of metahumans, determined to help the Flash as the ocular metahuman, Visionary, and determined to be a good sister to him now that he knew the truth.

"We'd be fine if they didn't refuse to trade properties with us," Iris said with a frown.

"Hey, it's part of the game, sweetie," Joe said, putting his hands up defensively. "We play to win."

"Easy there, Joseph," Iris said, giving her dad a challenging look, "I happen to be your daughter remember. I can beat you and Bartholomew easy."

"Oh yeah, we'll see," Barry said with a laugh.

"And that's 'dad' to you, young lady," Joe added.

Eddie and Averey laughed at the exchange with Averey laughing harder. "Your name is Bartholomew?" she asked, slapping the table with her hand as she turned to face Barry. He briefly closed his eyes, feeling annoyance rush through his body. "No _wonder_ you go by Barry. I thought Averett was bad."

"It's better than Bart," Iris said with a wicked grin. Averey gave her a curious look.

" _Don't_ ," Barry warned. Iris stuck her tongue out at Barry, the mischievous look never leaving her face.

"Barry used to go by Bart as a kid," Iris explained, eyes glowing with amusement. "The nickname didn't stick after 'the cafeteria incident'."

"Oh, I remember that," Joe said with a fond smile. Barry stared at him and he lifted his beer to his lips, taking a swig. "Barely." A confused look appeared on his face. "In fact, I don't know if I'm even know what she's talking about."

"Come on, dad, you do," Iris said with a smirk. "It was Macaroni Surprise Day—"

"And the surprise was ham bits in the bacon, and mine had this gross chunk of fat in it and when I ate it I threw up and everyone started calling me Barf," Barry quickly rattled through the rest of the story, feeling his cheeks burn as he reached for his hard root beer. He took a long sig and held the cool beverage in his mouth, trying to cool down his cheeks. "So, it's just Barry," he said after he swallowed. "It's not that funny."

"Yes, it is," Eddie contradicted him as his laughter subsided."

That's a right laugh," Averey agreed. She waved her hand in the air. "Reckon I've had some bad nicknames in my lifetime." Counting off on her fingers, she listed the names, her gaze sliding towards the ceiling as she thought. "Short Stack, Shrimp, Smurfette, Pancake." She shrugged at the blank looks she got. "What? They didn't all have to do with my height, hey? At least one of us got the height genes."

"You're more like Henry than you think," Joe commented, stretching his legs out from his seated position. "Barry's got his passion for seeing the good in everybody and helping them to the best of their ability. And you, Averey, got from him being spontaneously calculated." Barry gave Joe an odd look, blinking in confusion. "It sounds weird; you can basically decide on the spot to do something, and at the same time you'll make sure all your bases are covered while doing it." A fond smile came to his face. "It got us out of a lot of trouble when we were younger."

"Really?" Eddie asked, giving his partner a curious look. "Like what?"

"Yeah, like what?" Iris repeated. "What kind of trouble did you get into?"

"That's a story for another time, baby," Joe replied. He looked over at Eddie and his gaze hardened just slightly and Eddie's smile of amusement slowly disappeared. "For you, you'll never hear the story. I don't need you throwing it back in my face later."

"Come on, Joe, would I do that?" Eddie asked, putting his hands over his heart. He widened his eyes in innocence. Joe stared at him for a moment before he shook his head. "So, Averey, how much did you know? About your dad, I mean?"

"Not much," Averey said with a shrug. "I always knew Daniel wasn't biological dad but mum wouldn't say much about him. I found a picture of mum, Daniel and I when I was…seven."

"On the bridge, right?" Barry asked and Averey nodded. "I just found that picture, too. I showed it to Iris." Iris nodded to corroborate his story.

"I only had half of it," Averey continued her explanation, "but on the back was written the date and 'Central City'. Mum got mad when she found out I had found it. because I had gone through her stuff. Basically all she told me was that dad lived there. After uni, I knew I was going to try and find him. I spent that year saving up money, getting my passport and visa, and planning out where I was going to visit."

"The whole time though, whenever I asked mum questions, she would dodge the answers. I guess she didn't want me to know he was in prison but it just made me feel like he didn't care. So I wanted to tell him how I felt. But, I knew mum didn't want me to meet him—unbeknownst to me because he was in jail—so I didn't really tell her what I had planned, just that I would be travelling overseas for a while."

"I travelled through the country and got as far as Keystone and chickened out. I didn't know if it would be easy to find him or how to go about it once I got to Central City. Then I got arrested and legal trouble had me stuck there for a while, and then I came here and found him."

Barry looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. There was much more to the story than that, but Iris and Eddie didn't know that she was a metahuman, or that he was for that matter. They didn't know they both had lost nine months of their lives. At least they could share the fact that they had to keep that big secret.

"But, it sucked knowing that mum wouldn't tell me anything about my dad, or about you, Barry." Averey was now talking directly to him. "I mean…if there's something in life I don't like, it's being hated. I couldn't stand you being so mad at me for not telling you the truth so I kind of shut down and ignored—or I tried to ignore—the fact that you were upset with me because, Barry, I've always wanted to have a brother or sister."

Barry was silent for a moment, twisting his mouth to the side before giving her a smile. "Well, _little sister_ ," he said, purposefully sounding like what he was saying next was a heavy weight on his shoulders, "I guess we can work something out."

Averey punched him on the shoulder, "I couldn't ask for more, _big brother_." She was silent for a moment before looking around for the dice on the board. "Except for letting me take a crack at it. Who's playing which token? I can help whomever's losing."

"Oh god, they're both competitive," Iris said, her upper lip curling as she reached for the six sided objects.

* * *

"Are you _sure_ you want to live here?" Barry asked, leaning against the doorjamb of his old apartment. He stared into the empty living space, remembering his time spent there; the rattling window in the wind, the loud neighbors, the gamble of the washer and dryer being free to use. He didn't miss it that much. "I mean, I'll help you move, but I want to make sure you really want to move in here."

"Yeah, why not?" Averey asked, crossing the threshold. The wood flooring creaked under her feet with each step she took. "I like the exposed brick. It's small, but has plenty of space for my photography stuff." She turned around to face him, lifting her arms in the air before dropping them down to her sides. "What's the problem?"

"Neighbors, for one," Barry instantly replied, "they try to get into your business without getting into your business. I mean, I had plenty of visits from the landlord about my blasting in and out of here at all hours." He held up a second finger. "People are _verrry_ selfish about their laundry. If you leave your stuff in the wash for too long, you'll be peeling it off the floor. I swear, I've almost been in some fights with people. Oh, and bugs seem to find their way inside all the time."

"No problems," Averey replied, waving her hand in the air. "I'll just remember their faces and get them back later." She made a V with her index and middle fingers and pointed at her eyes before pointing at Barry. Barry briefly closed his eyes, a chuckle slipping past his lips. "There are more poisonous bugs back home and they're not a big deal."

"Most of those creatures don't live in the city, but the bush," Barry contradicted her, crossing his arms over his chest.

Averey's lips lifted in the corners in a slow smile. "Oh, I forgot," she drawled in her thick accent, "you're smart." Barry stuck his tongue out at her and she copied the movement. "So what else about this place should I be worried about?"

"It's far from us," was on the tip of Barry's tongue, but he found himself swallowing those words. She had been apart from his life for 25 years (not counting the bad experience when they were four—you can't really recover from accusing someone of being a dog killer), what's another mile or two. It was strange that a part of him suddenly felt a strong bond with her on the basis that he knew they were related.

Averey slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans before crossing the room to the window, looking out at the city below. "Look, Barry, I didn't tell you about me because—"

"You already explained it to me," Barry said, putting a hand up into the air. Looking at her profile, he watched her nose wrinkle as she made a face.

"Not fully," she replied. "Because Eddie and Iris don't know I'm— _we're_ metahumans." She twisted her mouth to the side for a moment. "I thought not telling you would make it easier for you to accept because by then you'd be used to the idea of me being here. In your life."

"I don't understand," Barry replied.

"I mean, you'd trust me as Visionary and as your friend," Averey explained, "so it wouldn't change as much later on when you found out."

"Oh."

Scratching at the back of her head, she turned to face him. "Well, it was that and—AHHHHHH! SPIIIDERRRRRR!" Averey hurried away from where she was standing and threw her arms around Barry's waist, holding him in a death grip. "Over there! On the wall! Go get it!"

"What?" Barry asked, bewildered at the sudden shout. He had tensed his muscles getting ready to run away or run towards whatever it was that scared her. Barry looked down at the hands that were wrapped around his waist and watched as she made a large circle with her index fingers and thumbs. "It was _this_ big!"

"You know, it's been scientifically proven that spiders seem larger to people afraid of them," Barry said with a laugh as Averey tightened her grip around his waist. He twisted to look down at the shorter girl. "With _your_ eyesight they have to be the size of muffins or something."

"More like rock melons, it was magnified a hundred times! I don't care what bloody science says," Averey said into his back. She started walking forward, pressing into his back, pushing him further into the room. "Scientifically kill it!"

Barry rolled his eyes and looked back at the spot on the wall. "Calm down." It was empty. "Where'd it go?" he asked. He shuffled further into the room, looking around. "I don't see any—WHOA!" Barry jumped back, stumbling against Averey as he spotted the spider crawling quickly over the floor towards his feet. "Shoot, its moving fast."

"Watch it!" Barry grunted as Averey tightened her grip around him even more, trying to pull him backwards out of the room. "Hurry up. There might be more of 'em. That little bugger is worse than the spiders back home."

"I thought you said Australia wasn't out to get you," Barry said, trying to move to the door as fast as he could without falling over. His feet kept getting tangled with hers and he did all but carry her towards the door in his rush to move away from the spider.

"It's not, the spiders are!" Averey cried.

With a _slam_ , Barry pulled the door shut behind him and sank to the ground, taking in deep breaths of air calm his racing heart. He caught Averey's eye and the two of them started to laugh. He put a hand to his stomach trying to will himself to stop long enough to take a deep breath of air.

"I tried…to warn you," Barry managed to get out between little bursts of laughter. "You yelled so loud."

"Oh, whatever…Mr. Macho," Averey said. "You practically left me…trying to get out."

"Yeah, ok," Barry said sarcastically. "I carried you out."

"I pulled you out," Averey replied, pointing a finger in his face. Barry moved his head forward, snapping his jaws to pretend to bite her finger and Averey yelled, pulling her hand away. "Heyyy."

"I'm hungry," Barry announced, getting to his feet, brushing off the seat of his pants with his hand. "What do you want to eat?"

"Hmm, how about pizza?" Averey asked, lifting herself off of the floor, rubbing her stomach. "Or Chinese; I like Chinese." Two for two so far; those were some of Barry's favorite foods as well. Her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together. "Oooh, Mexican! I really want a taco or two. And it's not even Tuesday."

Barry laughed. "Those are my favorites too," he said, lifting his leg off the floor. "Tell you what." He reached behind himself for his ankle and stretched his legs. "We'll compromise; I'll run and get all three and whatever you don't eat, I'll finish. I'm starving."

"Deal."


	2. MASH

**M.A.S.H**

 **Summary- Barry and Averey bond over a children's game that dictates their future. [Set around Chapter 35 of "In a Flash"].**

* * *

Barry had no idea how he used to cure his boredom before he got his speed. He had already cleaned the West home, washed and put up all the dirty dishes, and re-arranged the furniture in his bedroom in record time. Slouching on the couch in the living room, feet propped up on the table, he shifted his feet left and right in time to the ticking of the clock sitting on the shelf above the fireplace.

"Ugggghhhh." Barry gripped handfuls of his hair before dropping his arms in his lap. "I can't believe this."

He had never been suspended from work, let alone from anything, a day in his life. Ok, well, maybe he was suspended a day or two with all the fights he got into when he was a kid. The zero tolerance policy was a nightmare of a school rule. All he was doing was defending himself and he got whatever punishment the bullies got. Sure, it did look suspicious that he, Joe, and Cisco were at Sherry Covington's house days before she was found on the steps of the CCPD, but they didn't have anything to do with that.

Not intentionally, anyway.

He could have gone over the events leading up to Sherry's death as many times as he wanted, but nothing was going to change. She was going to die and he was going to be kicked off of the case. _You had a good reason to go to Starling City_ , he reminded himself. _Oliver needed your help and so did Caitlin._ They had saved Ronnie Raymond (and Professor Stein) and Bette Sans Souci from General Eiling from the experiments at Belle Reve. It was one death for two people's lives. _One death too many._

Barry glanced over at the door as a series of rapid knocks sounded on the door. Pulling his feet off the coffee table, he got to his feet, his joints creaking as he did so, before making his way to the door. "Yeah, what?" he asked as he pulled it open, angling his head down to look at his shorter half-sister.

"I'd ask you to pull the stick out your bum, but considering you have a good reason for having it there…" Averey said, pressing a to-go Jitters cup into his hand. Stepping past him into the West home, she took a sip from the extra cup she held, using her now free hand to adjust the strap to her ever present messenger bag that hung off her shoulder. Barry grumbled under his breath as he closed the door behind her. "Just got off work and thought you'd want some company."

"Thanks," Barry said with a sigh. "I'm going crazy being stuck in here."

"You have all of Central City to run through and you decide to stay here?" Averey asked, moving into the living room, sitting down on the couch.

Barry took a long sip of his iced Americano, following her to the couch. "I could take a personal tour in point five seconds if I wanted," he said after he swallowed and let out a soft "ahhhh." He set the coffee cup down onto the table. He ignored the coaster sitting on the counter choosing to take Joe's lecture about rings on the table; it'd be a welcome change to the silence of the house.

Joe was often gone all day while Barry chose to stay at home. He didn't need all the staring from the citizens of Central City, nor to see his dad's name emblazoned on the front of each newspaper. Nothing was ever on TV during the week and he just had a feeling the local news stations were still rotating his family story over and over again. He couldn't even spend time in his lab trying to work through his mother's case now that he was locked out—he had tried speeding through the building to secretly gain access to no avail.

"I brought my work schedule so we can figure out a time to meet dad," Averey said, reaching into her bag, pulling out a folder to hand to him.

"Oh, cool." Barry took the folder and flipped the front cover open glancing down at the calendar in his hands. It was filled with quick scribbles in Averey's slanted, yet curly handwriting. Her work times were written at the top of each box, with notes on Jitters meetings, Dante's party, and at what time to call home. In some boxes were little drawings, like a party hat and balloons on the day of Dante's party, and what looked like a doctor's needle. "What's this?" Barry pointed to the picture.

"That's a tattoo gun," Averey replied. "I have a good eye for pictures but I'm not much of a drawer."

"You're getting a tattoo?"

"No, I'm adding on to the one I already have." Barry lifted his eyebrows in surprise and watched as she lifted the left side of her shirt, turning towards him to show him the compass rose tattooed just below her armpit on her ribcage. "On the East side I'm going to put BNE, the abbreviation for Brisbane, and on the West side, I want CC for Central City, because I have family in both places."

Barry felt himself smile at her explanation. Partially because of her reasoning behind the future addition to the tattoo, but also because he kept finding more similarities between the two of them. He had his own tattoo on his left side, which he didn't hesitate to show her.

"Mountains?" she asked, tilting her head to the side to get a better look at it. "Sweet as."

"Yeah, the Kaiser Mountains. It's not too far away from here," Barry replied, glancing down at the jagged lines that indicated the mountain peaks. "Dad would take me camping for a week every summer. His dad, my grandpa—" Barry put a hand to his mouth at his slip up. "O _ur_ grandpa, sorry, used to take him there when he was a kid."

"We should go when dad's out of Iron Heights," Averey suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds cool," Barry agreed with a nod of his head. Finally. It felt good to have someone on his side. To have someone know that one day, his dad would be free of all charges. "We can get him away from the city for a while. I think the fresh air would do him some good." He quickly scanned over Averey's schedule. "We can visit him on Thursday. You only work in the morning."

"Barring any metahuman activity going on," Averey pointed out, "Yeah."

Barry snorted. "Or crazy military guys," he added, clenching his teeth for a brief moment. "It's just not okay what General Eiling is doing. They're supposed to protect us, not exploit us."

"If I had said something earlier, when I started to remember, it probably wouldn't have been so bad," Averey said with a frown. "But, I didn't want to think about it, and I was worried that he'd find out about you—"

"He already knows about me," Barry said before he could stop himself. Averey's eyes widened as she silently regarded him. "Obviously he knows you and I didn't exactly keep our relation a secret. I think he already knew anyway. I just have that feeling."

"Why didn't—"

"Because I knew you'd blame yourself."

"I wouldn—"

"Like you're doing now."

Barry watched as Averey sniffed, trying to put a look of defiance on her face, confidence in her body. A moment later, her shoulders slumped. "Ok, ok," she said quietly. "I do blame myself."

"It's not your fault," Barry said, waving his hand in the air.

"Yeah." Silence fell over the two of them and Barry handed her schedule back to her, suddenly remembering it was still in her hand. Averey slipped it back into her bag. "You wouldn't happen to know any Spanish would you?"

"No, why?"

"I just wanted to learn some Spanish before going to Dante's party," Averey explained with a shrug of her shoulders. "I can barely manage an American accent but I thought I'd give it a go. Brisbane is pretty multicultural but I never took the time to learn another language in school."

"Neither did I," Barry replied. "Sorry."

"Ah, no worries."

"Uh huh." Barry stared at his half-sister, feeling his lips curl up into a smile of amusement. Averey's eyes narrowed as she rested her arm on the top of the couch.

"What?"

"Nothing."

" _What_?"

" _Nothing_."

"Barry," Averey said with a sudden sweet disposition, "I can see on your face that you're not telling me something."

 _No kidding._ The ocular metahuman could do a lot of things with her eyes that he was one part jealous of and one part creeped out about. Like this moment for instance; she could see subtle twitches of his face, his lips, and his eyebrows, anything that gave away whether or not he was keeping something from her. Like any other little sibling, she would annoy him to no end, never dropping the subject (they shared their stubbornness) until she got answers.

Reaching for her coffee cup, which he knew by now was filled with tea and not coffee, she asked, "What is it?"

"I'm just…concerned," Barry replied.

"You're choosing your words carefully," Averey pointed out, pointing a finger in his direction. She pulled her knees up into her chest, curling up on her side of the couch. "And you're stalling. _And_ you've got this weird bunny nose thing going on, so I reckon you find this funny." She pulled he corners of her lips down in a pout and stamped her feet on the couch cushion. "I want to knowwwww. What are you talking about?"

"You really can't see it?" Barry asked, giving his sister a pointed look. She widened her eyes just slightly, eyebrows lifting. Rolling her neck forward, she silently prompted him to continue talking. Barry tilted his head back towards the ceiling before he crossed his legs on the couch, turning to face her straight on. "He likes you. Cisco's one of my best friends, but he wants to get fresh with you. There, I said it." _Finally._ He knew Cisco would never come right out and say it himself and he wondered if Averey had even noticed.

Averey blinked once, twice, three times, her facial expression never changing. "Besides Iris did you have any other friends growing up?"

 _What?_ He expected a different kind of reaction. A smile maybe. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I want to have a conversation with the blokes that taught you that phrase," Averey replied deadpan. Then her lips tilted upwards into a smile before she burst out laughing."'Get fresh?' What the hell?"

"You know what I mean," Barry insisted, feeling himself give a short laugh. He reached his hand forward and grasped her foot, shaking it. Averey let out a small yelp, pulling her foot back from him. Barry used his feet to quickly grab her foot (which was a tad bit difficult as she could use her enhanced vision to see where his hand was going to go to move it away) and started tickling the bottom of it. "How do you feel about that? Huh? Say it. Say it!"

"St—hahahaha—ooop." Averey gasped for air, trying to pull her foot from his grip. Barry tightened his grasp around his sister, tickling the bottom of her foot faster. "Bar-ry! Hahahaha—stooooop." She started kicking at him with her other foot and Barry pulled his hands back, putting them up defensively as Averey's final kick was aimed more for his head. Whether her cheeks were flushed from laughter or embarrassment he wasn't sure.

"No, really," he prompted, leaning into the couch cushions. He crossed his arms over his chest. "How do you feel about Cisco? For real?"

"Uhhhhmm." Averey ran her hands over her face before pushing her hair back, holding it in a ponytail between her hands before allowing it to fall around her shoulders and she copied his position. "Cisco is very impressive. I'm impressed by him."

"And?" Barry prompted.

"Annnd, we're not all like you and Iris," Averey replied.

"I…what…now who's changing the subject?" Barry stammered out, talking faster than he could form a thought in his head. He lifted his Americano to his lips and took another long sip, allowing the cold beverage to combat the hot flash that suddenly rushed over his body. "What does that even mean anyway?"

"I mean, you've always known you've been in love with Iris," Averey replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "How do you know she's right for you? Or that you're right for her?"

"I just do," Barry replied. Averey rolled her eyes. "Ok, look…can I tell you something?"

"Yeah, anything."

"Before I went back in time…Iris and I kind of had…a 'moment'," Barry replied. Averey sat up straighter in her seat, getting into a position he had seen many girls over the years get into; she was ready to gossip.

"What kind of moment?" she asked.

"I don't know," Barry said. He couldn't stop the wide smile that came to his face. "We were really clicking, like we hadn't done in a while. It was like things were back to normal between us, better than normal. I think she was feeling it." He then shrugged his shoulders. "Only now…I don't think. I don't know if things have changed."

"Iris is really into Eddie," Averey pointed out to him.

"I know but, I can't help but think something could have happened," Barry replied. "I know I took the risk in telling her how I felt and that she really loves Eddie." He had to stop himself from reacting to himself saying that. "I just think there's something more to it than that. I mean…I can't describe to you how this moment felt. It just felt…right."

Averey slowly nodded her head up and down before she made a clicking sound with her tongue. "Just be careful, Barry," she said. "If anything were to happen with Iris…you don't want things to move _too fast_." She put a lot of emphasis on her last two words.

"What do you mean?" Barry asked. "Iris and I have known each other basically our whole lives, it'd be fine."

"She doesn't know you're the Flash, right?" Averey asked and Barry nodded. "So…there's bound to be some…" Her lips tightened as she tried to think of a way to explain herself. "…Friction, for a lack of a better word, if you ever have a _moment_." Barry continued to stare at her. "For someone so smart you are so dumb!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Barry protested.

"You'd be bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase pre-mature—"

" _Ok_!" Barry said loudly, cutting her off. Averey gave a smirk, shrugging her shoulders in a 'You wanted me to explain it to you' kind of way. "I get it." He tugged at the collar of his shirt, suddenly feeling a rush of heat roll of his body. "I get it."

"Right. Come on, then." She clapped her hands together before reaching for her messenger bag. "Let's have the universe decide once and for all if things will work out for you and Iris. What's it going to be? MASH, MATH, or MATCH?"

"Excuse me?" Barry asked. Averey pulled a creased and worn looking notebook before flipping to the back, ripping out a sheet of paper.

"You've never played MASH before? Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House?"

"I know what MASH is." How many days of inside recess did he spend playing the game? Sure, the game was kind of girly, but Iris had always insisted he play to see who in class he'd be married to for the day. He always put her name down as an option and she would always laugh and say, "We can't get married, we're friends." He would just smile in response and hope her name was the last one standing. "What are the others?"

"Mansion, Apartment, Tree house, House," Averey replied, closing one eye as she thought. "Annnnnd Mansion, Attic, Tent, Car, House. It's how we played it back home, but it's really up to you."

"MASH is fine."

"Ok."

"You haven't answered my question, by the way," Barry said as he watched Averey draw out the letters at the top of the piece of paper for the game. Time to take the attention off of him for a while. If his sister could embarrass him, he could play the brother card and dish it right back.

"Hmm?"

"How do you feel about Cisco?"

"Cisco is…" Averey trailed off as she continued drawing up the game.

"Is?" Barry prompted. For a while, Barry wasn't sure she was going to answer as she was "so busy" setting up the game.

"He's cute," Averey finally admitted, a small smile coming to her face. "And he's smart, and he's funny. I like being around him and wondering what pop culture reference he'll make for the day. I like seeing how excited he gets about movies."

"But?"

"I don't think I'm smart enough for him," Averey replied with a sigh, looking up at him. She tapped her pen against her bottom lip. "Professor Stein basically called me stupid for not understanding something that's really simple for you guys."

Barry bit down on his bottom lip, suddenly feeling guilty that he even brought it up. "Ave, we had to study long and hard to learn this stuff," he reminded her. "We had to start somewhere too. And you're learning just by being there and by telling us that you don't understand so we can explain it better. You're just smart in a different way."

He snapped his fingers. "People smart, for example. How could you not be as a photographer; you know how to handle kids, and talk people into the kinds of pictures they want. Plus, you have to deal with people every day at Jitters. And you have a degree in history right; so you're book smart, and you collect and communicate information differently. You just think and understand things differently, that's all."

"I appreciate that," Averey said with a half smile.

"Don't mention it." Barry eyebrows furrowed and he became more and more confused as he watched her draw a square in the center of the paper. Underneath the bottom line she wrote the numbers that she asked him for, to the left the types of cars, and to the right a list of girls' names. He had to speak up when she started drawing a spiral in the middle of the box, asking him when to stop. "What are you doing?"

Averey slapped her pen down onto the couch. "Do you want to figure this out, or not?" she demanded, her eyes flashing in annoyance.

"I would if you played it correctly," Barry protested. He jabbed at the piece of paper with his finger and Averey repeatedly smacked the back of his hand with the pen until he pulled it away. "You're supposed to put a city to live in, my job, and the color of the car."

"All right, all right." Averey did as she was told, getting his answers before going back to drawing the spiral. "Tell me when to stop."

"Stop." Barry watched her draw a line straight through the spiral and count how many times the line intersected the spiral. "Eight." Averey stared down at the piece of paper before looking back up at him. Barry sighed before taking the pen and turning the paper around towards him. Using his speed he quickly crossed off every eighth entry on the piece of paper until he got his results.

"Ok," Averey said taking the paper from him. "It says, in your future, you'll be a CSI in Coast City until you retire at 65. You'll drive a yellow BMW—that's ironic—you'll live in a shack, have 52 kids and…" She lifted her gaze up towards him. Be married to Iris."

"HA!" Barry punched the air with his fists and smiled. "See?"

"Huh. I thought for sure you'd land on Caitlin," Averey commented, using the end of the pen to scratch her chin.

"Why'd you even put her on there?" Barry said, the smile never leaving his face. In fact, his cheeks started to hurt so quickly, he was sure it got wider.

"Apart from Iris and Linda, and this Becky girl, you needed to round out your list," Averey replied with a small frown. "I sure as hell was _not_ putting my own name on there." Barry snorted. "Plus, she's the only other girl I see around you." She shrugged her shoulders before lifting her hand and wiggling her fingers. "And I kind of thought there was some feels going on between you two."

"No, there aren't any 'feels'," Barry said, using his index and middle finger on both hands to make air quotes. "She's just been through a lot. It's nice to know that she trusts me to open up."

"I call it like I see it," Averey said in a sing-song voice, setting her tea down onto the table.

"Yeah, well…let's do you now," Barry said quickly setting up the game. He got colors, numbers, professions, and cities. "Ok, we're going to put Cisco down for you and…who else? Oh, Eddie."

"For real?" Averey asked, giving Barry a dull look.

"What? You two are friends," Barry protested. "Hmm, who else. Oh, let's put Roy there for funsies."

"May as well add Lachlan," Averey said, putting her chin in her hand, her elbow resting on her kneecap.

"Who's Lachlan?" Barry asked.

"He was the school's star rugby player I convinced myself I was going to marry when I was in secondary," Averey replied, her upper lip curling just slightly. "He took one too many tackles because he was as dumb as a bloody post." A thoughtful look came to her face. "Somehow he made it out with a pretty face, though."

"Ooook," Barry replied, writing the name down. He started drawing tick marks at the top of the paper. "Tell me when to stop."

"Stop."

"Ok, 12," Barry said after quickly counting the tallies. He breezed through the game before coming up with the results. Laughing to himself, he pulled the paper away from Averey's hands as she tried to read it for herself. "You will marry Roy, live in an apartment in Starling City, have 24 kids, drive around in a green monorail, and you'll be a photographer until you retire at 47. I'm changing this; you're going to marry Cisco." He hunched over his leg as he scratched out Roy's name.

"You can't do that!" Barry felt a soft hit over the top of the head and quickly deduced he was being hit repeatedly with a pillow.

Barry laughed, using his arm to deflect the pillow from his head as he quickly wrote Cisco's name on the sheet of paper and circled it. "There!" he said, pushing the paper towards him. "That's binding."

"Binding my left bum cheek."

Barry grabbed the pillow from her hands and used his speed to repeatedly hit her with it.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"Ha! Take that!" Barry then settled back into the corner of the couch and sighed. "I'm hungry." He glanced over his shoulder at the kitchen. "But, I don't want to get up."

"It will literally take you less than five seconds to get yourself something to eat, Bare," Averey said with a roll of her eyes as she smoothed down her hair. Barry made a whining sound, wrapping his arms around his stomach. Averey rolled her eyes. "Ugh, fine. I'll make you some Fairy Bread."

"Fairy…Bread?" Barry repeated.

"Yeah, bread, butter, and hundreds-and-thousands," Averey replied, climbing off of the couch. Barry felt his eyebrows angle towards each other as he gave her a confused look. "Sprinkles. Jimmies. Whatever you call them. It's better than it sounds. Trust me."

"Whatever you say." Barry took the opportunity to stretch his legs across the couch cushions. Peering through the blinds, he could see a bird bouncing happily from tree branch to tree branch, twittering happily. It always amazed him how things could feel like it was falling apart from him, but the rest of the world could be moving on as if nothing else mattered.

"Hey, Barry?"

"Hmm?" Barry rolled onto his stomach and faced Averey who was standing in the doorway to the dining room. "We keep the sprinkles in the cabinet above the stove."

"Thanks heaps, but that's not it," Averey said with a shake of her head. "I was just thinking, it'd be great to visit dad with you, but…maybe when everything slows down you'd come home with me to meet my mum?" Barry's eyebrows lifted. "Or, we could just travel for a while, go to the places our mums went to years ago. I've been thinking about giving you a cork globe for your birthday thinking one day you'd be able to go."

"Oh." Was it really that close to his birthday already? Joe and Iris had done their best over the years to make his birthday a fun celebration with family dinners and giving him control over what it was they did for the day. As he got older it didn't seem to be so important.

"It's just a suggestion." Averey gave a half smile, shuffling from foot to foot. "We don't have to. And, sorry, I kind of ruined your birthday gift."

"No, no, it's a good one," Barry replied, sensing the nervousness coming from her. He reassured her with a small smile of his own. "That sounds cool. And, hey, we wouldn't even need to wait at any lines if we visited landmarks, I could just run us past them."

Averey laughed. "Ok, cool," she said, brightening. "Cool." She pointed a finger over her shoulder. "I'll just make the food." She then clapped her hands together, gasping in excitement before pointing at him. "And then when we're done eating, we can try telling our futures with a cootie catcher."

"Ha!"


End file.
